An integrated model for purposeful behaviour change. Rather than present theories of counselling, Kahn uses the A (Antecedent)-B (Behaviour)-C (Consequence) Model to explain the theory and practice of many of the counselling and educational approaches employed in the late 1990s.

Humorously illustrated with personal, practical examples and cartoons, this text presents an integrated model for purposeful behaviour change. Rather than present theories of counselling, Kahn uses the A (Antecedent)-B (Behavior)-C (Consequence) Model to explain the theory and practice of many of the counselling and educational approaches employed in the late 1990s. Cartoon characters and cartoon strips add dimension to the principles the author explains.

1. ORIENTING OURSELVES TO THE A-B-C MODEL . A Personal Introduction . A Preview Example of the A-B-C Model . Analysis and Prescription for Change . Scope of the Book . The Orientation of the Model . Organization of the Book . Figure 1. The A-B-C (Cognitive-Behavioral) Model . 2. OPERANT BEHAVIOR . Orienting Ourselves . Why Start With Operant Behavior? Operant Behavior Defined . Covert Operants . Learning Operants: Directly and Indirectly . Behavior Strength . Problem Operants: Behavior Of Real Concern . Chapter Summary . 3. CONSEQUENCES: WHAT WE HOPE, WHAT WE EXPECT, AND WHAT WE CREATE . Orienting Ourselves . Contingencies . The Contingency as Covert Behavior . Categories of Consequences . Consequence Matrix . Desirable Consequences . Positive Reinforcement . Negative Reinforcement . Chapter Summary . 4. UNDESIRABLE CONSEQUENCES: CONTINGENCIES WE DISLIKE . Orienting Ourselves . Punishment . Extinction . Schedules of Reinforcement . Non-Contingent Consequences and Superstitious Behavior . Chapter Summary 5. ANTECEDENTS: OUR EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT . Orienting Ourselves . Antecedent Stimuli as Setting Events . Stimulus Control . Stimulus Discrimination: Reading Your Antecedent Traffic Lights . Antecedents: Green Lights . Antecedents: Red Lights . Stimulus Discrimination: The Process . Antecedent Green Lights: Characteristics and Functions in Learning . Stimulus Generalization . Concepts . Chapter Summary . 6. RESPONDENTS: BEHAVIOR OF OUR BODY . Orienting Ourselves . Our Mind/Body System . Change as a Stressor . Anxiety . Coping and Adaptation: An Example . G.A.S.: Our General Adaptation System . Alarm . Resistance . Exhaustion . Chapter Summary . 7. COVERT BEHAVIOR: INTRODUCING THE A-B-C's OF OUR MIND . Orienting Ourselves . Our Covert Operants . The Antecedent-Covert Connection . Creating Our Own Covert Behavior . Reality: The One In My Head, andaThe Other One . Reality From Consensual Validation . Translating Our A-B-C's Into a-b-c's . Levels of Consciousness . Automatic Pilot of Our Brian . Chapter Summary . 8. COVERT STRUCTURES AND PROCESSES . Orienting Ourselves . Hemispheric Specialization . Left Brain Functioning . Right Brain Functioning . Hemispheric Integration . Developmental Schemata of Covert Processes . Assimilation and Accommodation . Schemes and Our Covert Action Plans . Equilibrium and the Development of Self . Schemata as Covert a-b-c's: Developmental Factors . The Cortex-Limbic Connection and the Structure of Emotion . Chapter Summary . 9. OUR COVERT A-B-C'S: WHAT WE THINK ABOUT . Orienting Ourselves . Our A-B-C's as a System . Cybernetic Regulation of Our A-B-C System . Change and our Dynamic A-B-C System . The Power of Goals and Our Desired a-b-c's . Feedback and Control . Memory: Our Storage and Retrieval of Covert a-b-c's . Attributions: Our Explanations for Past and Present a-b-c's . Expectations: Predictions for Future a-b-c's . From Attributions to Expectations: A Painful Example . Chapter Summary. (Part Contents.)